Can Education Take On Emotion

Can Education Take On Emotion

I had an intriguing debate with my cousin the other night on the topic of whether education can take on emotion. Emotion is the driver of action in us humans. We feel something and that feeling propels us to a specific behavior. Can knowledge have the effect of off setting this?

I do believe on some level education can override emotion but also that emotion will triumph over education. How can this be? We all do things that we know we shouldn't do and we all know we should do things that we don't. We all know we need a certain amount of exercise, sleep, and proper nutrition to optimize our health but many of us don't do these things. We all know about our indulgences we would be better off not doing, but we do these things anyway?

Approximately six hundred thousand people die every year in the United States from cardio vascular disease. In some of these casualties there is no doubt that genetics and hereditary factors play a role in this unfortunate circumstance but for the majority this is largely a lifestyle choice. Poor dietary habits combined with poor exercise habits don't bode well in avoiding this. Would education help prevent these deaths?

Cognitive behavioral therapy works. This is the application of working to moderate, change or improve behavior to increase ones quality of life experience. This is an example of education triumphing over emotion.

We are all creatures of habits and routines. If we have more good habits than bad then we are in good shape. We are designed to be that way. If we have bad habits, they generally are hard to stop and most people are not successful in changing their bad habits. Close to seventy percent of the population is clinically overweight and almost thirty-five percent are clinically obese. There are also many instances where people make extraordinary lifestyle changes that change their lives once they are exposed to certain things or become more knowledgeable to those things that will result in change.

Change and growth is possible and education will triumph over emotion under one condition I believe. And that is when someone is open to and actively seeking knowledge to change. This is not the case for the majority. Most of us operate under the 'thinking we know more than we do' protocol and as long as this mindset is present, I am of the belief that education doesn't stand a chance against emotion. Only by incorporating a learning or education mindset will education be able to take on emotion in creating healthy and positive behavioral change.



#elliotyi
#paradigmleft
#habits
#mindset

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